The Dragoso Series 1: Discovery in Hardship

Sereph pulled into a garage in an unknown town and turned the ignition off. She looked back at the Williams kids as they waited for her to speak.

“We have to travel by steed from here,” She announced.

“You mean...horses?” Aya asked.

“It is not just horses that exist to carry its master, Aya,” Sylark informed and they exited the van. After gathering bags, the group headed outside and the kids gasped. Up and down the streets they could see countless numbers of shops.

“It’s like something out of a book!” Brenda gaped. Trevor watched his siblings marvel at what they could see. He looked at Sereph and Sylark standing nearby, waiting.

“Look, we may be new to the whole dragon thing,” Trevor started, sniffling, “But we won’t exactly die tomorrow. Can’t we spend the day here? My siblings haven’t been so happy since we finished school for the year.” Sylark and Sereph exchanged glances.

“At dusk we head for the Academy. No exceptions, understand?” Sylark stated and Trevor nodded. “Leave your bags in the van, we will be at the tavern if you need us. Do not go outside the town.” Trevor approached his siblings.

“Too bad we can’t explore a bit, huh?” Brenda asked and Trevor smirked.

“Actually we have until dusk before they’re making us head to the Academy. No exceptions and stay in town,” Trevor announced and his sisters squealed. Bags returned to the van and with wallets in hand, Brenda and Aya ran into the nearby store, Trevor folded his arms and looked down at David who was pouting.

“Why do we have to shop?” David asked.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Trevor asked and David huffed.

“I don’t like shopping...”

“I know, let’s just please our sisters then we can see if they have something more fun than just shops, ok?” David nodded and leaned against his brother. It was a moment before Aya poked her head out of the store.

“Hey, Trevor! They got some cool colognes you should check out!” Aya called to him.

“C’mon, David, maybe we should get you cologne too. Make you smell good for the ladies at the Academy,” Trevor encouraged.

“Do I have to?” David whined. “Girls are too hard to understand, Trevor.”

“I know, David. Trust me, I know. But it’s a start. We have to get used to life at the Academy, might as well be as normal as we can be.” David sighed before following his brother into the shop.

Beauty products for all genders. Trevor wasn’t too surprised by that, but what did surprise him was the man behind the register who had a more feminine look to him. Trevor brushed the thought away and looked among the products.

“You must be new to Drake,” a girl spoke up nearby. Trevor looked up as David cowered closer to him.

“Yeah, we uh...just learned about our powers today. Some staff from the Academy brought us here,” Trevor explained and the girl nodded.

“I’ve seen a lot of that. Well, Herbal Cares is a great place to come for beauty products. Everything is made with all natural ingredients that will make you practically glow! You look like those girls over there, are you all related?” Trevor nodded. “You guys look so close to each other, it’s great to see siblings get along so well! So, what are you looking for?”

“My sister said there were some good colognes in here, I want to buy my little brother his first bottle.” Trevor laid a hand on David’s shoulder.

“Oh that first bottle. It’s gotta be extra good too! Luckily, our prices are actually not that high. A lot of the funds for many shops around here come from the royal dragon family.”

“There’s a royal family? Like a queen and king?” David whimpered.

“Yeah, the heir to the throne is the headmistress at the Academy. As far as any of us know, anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Trevor asked.

“Well, Kathey Royals is like, a big deal in the world. Let’s see, she’s a princess, she’s the leader of the Compass Dragons, she’s the headmistress at the Academy, she’s got amazing power. If she were to take the throne, Earth would be in more danger than if she stayed at the Academy for the rest of her life and her twin sister took over.”

“That’s a lot of information to take in about all that,” Trevor noted and the girl nodded.

“Anyway, about that cologne?” They spent a good few minutes testing and smelling colognes. Trevor found a new one he had taken a liking to, apparently it was a mix of herbal plants and some kind of spice. David chose a typical favorite of men, Old Spice. Of course it was a little different due to it being all natural, but it didn’t hurt anything.

The siblings spent the next two hours window shopping, seeing the butcher, the book store, other natural product stores. Sure enough they eventually found themselves among entertainment. One in the form of weaponry and one in the form of simple games. Trevor spotted the tavern and through the window he could see Sylark and Sereph talking to each other. Sereph had a steaming mug in front of her, Sylark a glass of soda. Trevor figured a tavern usually had only alcohol, maybe the term was a little more stretched in the dragon terms?

“C’mon, Trevor! I wanna play a game!” David pulled at Trevor’s wrist. Trevor smiled and followed his brother to what appeared to be a shuffleboard with a mug on it. After quite a few games, the group decided to head to the tavern to meet up with Sereph and Sylark.

“Did you four have fun?” Sereph questioned.

“We did, can we get something to drink before we head to the Academy?” Trevor requested.

“The Academy covers costs, go grab yourselves something and say you are with us,” Sylark informed. Trevor nodded and they approached the counter to grab some drinks. Trevor grabbed sodas for himself, Aya, and David and Brenda requested tea before they sat at the large table with Sylark and Sereph with their drinks.

“Is there anything we should really worry about at the Academy?” Brenda asked.

“All you need to be aware of is that there are strict rules for a reason. There are threats out there and the Academy can be attacked at any moment,” Sereph said. She looked up at Sylark for a moment. “We have a...situation...occurring right now. So your studies might be hindered should the team have to go out and take care of something. Those on the team are also staff at the Academy.”

“What about you?” Trevor wondered.

“I spend a majority of my time at the Academy. I am the resident medical professional, it’s my job to heal the wounded and care for the sick. The team goes out, if they come back wounded, they get treated for wounds.”

“What’s going on?” Aya asked. “You said there was a situation, what situation?”

“You do realize, young Aya, that there is nothing you and your siblings can do about it, yes?” Sylark snapped. His eyes shot to Sereph before he cleared his throat. “Like the humans have Heaven and Hell, we dragons have it, but under the names the Afterlife and the Underworld. The Afterlife, you live as a spirit, free and happy without a care in the world. In the Underworld, you wander a dark and fiery land, suffering, looking for peace. The Underworld has a ruler, his name is Deathbore Hell. He is Kathey’s uncle as well. Recently, he arrived at the Academy, wounded. Someone has taken the throne from Deathbore and we are trying to get to the bottom of what to do about this situation. It is dangerous to be in the Underworld. Deathbore has created many traps and tricks in order to reach his chamber. It is something we cannot do without his assistance, but he is still recovering.”

“The Underworld must have some freaky monsters if you guys are that worried,” Brenda noted and Sylark nodded.

“Yes, Deathbore is on our side, but must do his job in running the Underworld, punishing those who rightfully deserve it. He has creatures at his disposal that will wreck havoc all over the world if we do not stop the bastard that attacked him.” Sylark’s fingers curled on the table. He closed his hand into a fist before snorting. “You four must not worry about this. Focus on your training so that you may live normal lives with your dragon powers.”

“Not to be rude, Sylark, but that’s not how the Williams work. We may have something that we know little about, but we don’t back down from challenges. If you need us to help, then we’ll do our best to help the team out. We weren’t taught to ignore someone in need of help. It’s our nature to do what we can to help others,” Trevor announced and his siblings nodded.

“We’ll see, Trevor. We do appreciate your enthusiasm to help, but it’s a dangerous thing. Your lives will be at risk if you were to help us with anything that the team actually does to keep the world safe from evil deeds. Taking over the Underworld is just the first step of a much more sinister plan,” Sereph advised.

“Some of us may not be killed by age, but we do not risk lives without a proper cause. Do not be rash, understand?” Sylark asked and Trevor nodded, his siblings following in suit. “Good.”

“We should be heading to the Academy soon, it’s getting late,” Sereph suggested. Everyone finished their drinks before heading out to the garage to grab bags and enter what appeared to be a stable of some kind. Inside of each stall stood feline like creatures with eagle heads and wings. Each one varied in color.

“What are these?” David asked, reaching up to one of the creatures who lowered its head to sniff him.

“I don’t believe this. Griffins are real?” Trevor gaped and Sereph smiled, nodding.

“They are indeed, loyal creatures to those who know how to train them. Let’s be off.” Everyone swung up onto a griffin. “Just hold the saddle horns, we’ll lead the way.” Sereph informed them. They started towards a forest in the distance, crossing what appeared to be just a field. Something thumped above them and Trevor looked up to see a pink scaled dragon flying over them.

“Look! A dragon!” David pointed. Trevor shielded his eyes from the sun as he squinted up at the creature flying over them.

“Huh...hey, Sereph! Who is that up there?” Trevor called to her. Sereph looked up and smiled.

“That’s Anna. Kathey’s dragon name. She’s the only one we know of that prefers the name given to the form she’s in. Dragon form is Anna, human form is Kathey. Everyone else sticks to the names they were given when born.”

“Is it common to have multiple names?” Brenda asked.

“Aliases keep us safe should we have to go into hiding among humans,” Sereph noted.

“I guess we have a lot to learn, huh?” Aya mused and Trevor nodded.

“No doubt about that...” Trevor huffed. He turned his attention to the griffin he sat upon. From the trail rides his family had gone on for fun, he never thought any other creature could be graceful like the ones they rode at that moment.

Before Trevor could think more about it, the forest was over their heads, claws clicking on a stone path. It was a winding path that Trevor was unsure about. How did Sereph and Sylark know where they were going? The trees were so thick, nobody could see through them. It wasn’t long before Trevor spotted an eight foot fence and a gate.

“Dismount and remove your bags, the horses will return to Drake,” Sylark commanded. Trevor and his siblings did so and watched the griffins fly over the trees. Looking to his siblings, Trevor exhaled.

“We ready to start our new lives?” Trevor asked and his siblings nodded before Sereph opened the gate to their new home.